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Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR [1]. Today, we look at galloping gun and ammunition sales. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Weaker U.S. dollar, stimulus hopes drive gold price up 2% [2]

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Arkadiusz Sieroń: Is Gold Market Going Back Into The 1970s? [3]

Economy & Finance:

Trump Raises Stimulus Offer to $1.8 Trillion Days After Halting Negotiations [4]

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This Zero Hedge article is not about bird-watching: Crane Counts In North American Cities Drop For First Time Since 2017 [5]

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Microsoft Offers Permanent Work-from-Home Option with Pay-Cuts if Employees Move to Cheaper Cities or Countries [6]

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Also at Wolf Street: Cinema Chains Near Collapse: The Problem Beyond the Pandemic [7]

Commodities:

Over at Seeking Alpha: U.S. tariffs to target 18 countries dumping aluminum, Ross says [8]

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OilPrice News reports: Oil Prices Climb 10% In A Week [9]

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EIA on home Heaing oil and propane price predictions: Winter Fuels Outlook, October 202 [10]0

Derivatives:

‘Big bang’ sends basis swaps on roller-coaster ride [11]

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ISDA: The US DOJ issues positive Business Review Letter to financial derivatives trade organization for its proposed amendments to address interest rate benchmarks [12]

Forex & Cryptos:

Nick Cawley: Sterling (GBP) Weekly Outlook: EU/UK Trade Talks – It’s Time to Decide [13]

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Venezuela Orders 71 Tons of Paper To Print New Banknotes Worth 23 Cents Each [14]. (A hat tip to H.L. for the link.)

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USD/CHF drops to fresh 20-day lows, closes in on 0.9100 [15]

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$12K Bitcoin price back on the table after BTC rallies above $11.4K [16]

Tangibles Investing:

Up North: Ammunition shortage empties shelves across Northland [17]

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September 2020 NICS and Gun Sales Continue Record Trend [18]. (Thanks to D.S.V. for the link.)

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Nation Experiences Pandemic-Fueled Mason Jar Shortage [19]

Provisos:

SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos [20] page for our detailed disclaimers.

News Tips:

Please send your economics and investing news tips to JWR [1]. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form [21].) These are often especially relevant because they come from folks who closely watch specific markets. If you spot any news that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers, then please send it in. News items from local news outlets that are missed by the news wire services are especially appreciated. And it need not be only about commodities and precious metals. Thanks!

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#1 Comment By Joe On October 12, 2020 @ 10:43 am

I just have to comment on the Microsoft decision to pay less for equal work. Pretty normal, hypocritical, liberal reaction, bla bla bla about how fair we are. Save us money by working at home; making a personal decision to lower your overhead by relocating outside our sphere of influence. You are going to pay for your arrogance and independence by getting less money for the same work. I wonder if they will be cutting women’s compensation more than men’s next? Nice work King Gates; philanthropist and liberal extraordinaire.

#2 Comment By Matt in Oklahoma On October 12, 2020 @ 11:54 am

The military, feds and some companies already do this. Your COLA is dependent on where you live.
The one difference I see is it looks like Microsoft is cutting base pay but at the end of the day it’s one number on that paycheck.

#3 Comment By wingfootjr On October 12, 2020 @ 11:58 am

Spot on Joe!

#4 Comment By ThoDan On October 12, 2020 @ 1:29 pm

If you work out of area, you can´t be expected to participate in face to face meetings or coming into the office to do work there.

#5 Comment By LargeMarge On October 12, 2020 @ 3:13 pm

Joe,

Here is one theory:
William Henry Gates The Third desperately needs to be seen as a ‘political liberal’.
Inside, he secretly carries a sense of inadequacy, is still trying to get approval from mummy and daddy while still trying to meet their unachievable standards.

The key indicator is the act of ‘doing this for the little people’.

This’s a classic case of poor self-esteem.

The cure?
“Grow! Up!”

Until maturing past their ‘stuckness’, common sense says they — like all masochists — need to be ignored.
Feeding that need keeps them from pulling some dumb stunt like acting-out as TheSuperHero infesting the entire human population of this particular planet with some super-duper look-at-me cure-all vaccine.
The main indicator of their circular firing-squad logic is that ‘look-at-me’ part.

*****

You heard TheGatesFoundation injections cause polio in Black© African test-subjects, right?

#6 Comment By Ole granny On October 14, 2020 @ 5:41 am

Joe

Women should make less money for the same job and always should. Feminist are not looking at the entire picture of equality. An income should be looked at as a wage earning income for a family. In which case men are on the hook to provide. Whether in a family as provider or thrown out by divorce paying child support. Men provide. In fact there are 30,000,000 American men supporting stay at home non wage earning spouses. There’s nearly zero women earning equality of pay doing the same. Your sons will always pay for dates in courting and your daughters will not. It goes much beyond that. Men work the most dangerous, back breaking and demanding jobs which deserve more money as women can’t keep up with men in those jobs. War is one of them as why women are barred from ground combat. I’m in agreement to pay women less money for the same job because equality needs to be looked upon as a family provision and not dollar for dollar bit. Men have way more responsibility than women with their equality of income.

#7 Comment By O’le Gimbalbutt On October 12, 2020 @ 2:01 pm

Sorry, off topic again, but not really. Let’s not forget the gold star families rembering the USS Cole today.

#8 Comment By Telesilla of Argos On October 13, 2020 @ 2:48 pm

So right you are, O’le Gimbalbutt…
Here’s a link that will help us all to remember, as we should, the attack on the USS Cole — resulting in the injury and death of US Armed Forces.

[22]

NEVER FORGET or face the repeat of history we surely will.

#9 Comment By Kelley On October 12, 2020 @ 2:39 pm

I manage to find most of the ammunition I need by just shopping around at the various gun shops in my community. I can find 9mm when one shop does not have it I o to my other store I shop at. One can adapt small rifle primers to use instead of small pistol primers and that allows a friend of mine to keep reloading 9mm as an example.

#10 Comment By Muddykid On October 12, 2020 @ 2:53 pm

Small rifle primers and small pistol primers. This sounds dangerous…and exciting. Please share more? 🙂

#11 Comment By Steve in MO On October 12, 2020 @ 4:20 pm

That’s not advised. Rarely should one switch primers like that, if you could it would be in the reloading manuals. Small rifle primers are more akin to magnum small pistol primers, and with such a small case like the 9mm, one is asking for trouble by using them.

#12 Comment By PabloMontana On October 12, 2020 @ 3:48 pm

Everybody needs a Kaboom at least once in a lifetime….

#13 Comment By BinWY On October 13, 2020 @ 12:27 am

LOL! No, not really, it hurts and it’s bad for your firearm. On that subject: never trust anyone to give you a “great load”. Do your own research from multiple sources.

#14 Comment By Ron On October 12, 2020 @ 4:10 pm

All of the categories in this Economics and Investing section contain valuable information that we need to know and possibly act upon.
In my opinion the most important tangible in the near future is food. As much as you can stockpile. The central banks are stockpiling gold and the major grocery company’s are
stockpiling food. This tells me that major shortages are coming soon but the experts won’t
sound the alarm for fear of causing a panic.

It is very difficult to think of the unemployed who are waiting long lines at the food banks and hoping that their box will get them thru until next week. I’m sure these folks wish that
they could turn the clock back to a time when they could have invested in food.

The are still many good buys every week in the meat and canned veggies section at Smiths,
Safeway/Albertsons and Super One. Find the bargains and buy all that you can. Soon!!

A stomach that has some food will surely help an operational trigger finger.

#15 Comment By Ani On October 12, 2020 @ 5:20 pm

@Ron

I’ve heard that grocery stores are stockpiling food but also other items that were cleaned out before such as TP. I don’t think they are stockpiling as they foresee shortages but rather so that they don’t get caught without ample backup of the stuff people cleaned them out of last time should panic buying reoccur. So not that food shortages couldn’t be a problem but I doubt that’s the reason behind the switch from JIT to stocking warehouses.

#16 Comment By Anonymous On October 12, 2020 @ 8:19 pm

Stockpiling is I believe is the wrong word…….I have been told by store management at Walmart, In a very candid way…….they are stretching the current stock they have In house by instead of Totally filling the shelf With a item and having it bought out in a day ….they now put maybe a dozen of the item out and restock with the same amount on following days……..This gives the illusion of supply being there and it keeps people like me from stocking up. Also evidently wallyworld has had a lot of cash flow problems, so in turn they have One been unable to buy the quantities they have in past years and two they have limited the number of different brands for the same item…..I have noticed this over the last couple of years….also they are stocking shelf’s with more sams club items. So availability is more of a correct term……and with hyperinflation starting to rear it’s head on pricing….I would caution all of us to assess what’s going on and keep in mind the accounting principle of current value of money when planning and buying today versus waiting till an Ugly situation like the virus scare bites you in the backside.

#17 Comment By Once a Marine… On October 13, 2020 @ 2:06 am

Still a classic after all these years. Gives attention to the emotions behind investing.

The Money Game by “Adam Smith”

A short review, or as JWR says, a pericope.

This essential book takes readers to the Street to learn about the intricacies of money and how the stock market impacts every area of our lives. According to the author, the key to making wise, lucrative investments is knowing ourselves. In witty, easily accessible language, he shares pithy insights about the role of intuition and the psychology of guilt, arguing that there is no substitute for information. Smith’s Irregular Rules shatter common myths and misconceptions, revealing why nothing works all the time and illustrating how greed and fear fuel the market.

Readers will learn about the safest types of investing, the key to following market trends, and how to capitalize growth, gleaning tips on stock movers, winners and losers, and much more. Peppered with entertaining and prescient anecdotes, The Money Game analyzes who makes the really big money and explores the meaning of our desire to become rich. From selling short and buying long to Wall Street’s crowd mentality, from what constitutes a random walk to why timing is everything, this is the definitive portrait of the Street, then and now.

Carry on

#18 Comment By Joe On October 12, 2020 @ 10:22 pm

Start with a low power load and chronograph it with the rifle primers and then add propellent slowly until you get the velocity that you want, this is what we reloaders do
to develop safe loads.

#19 Comment By Charles K. On October 12, 2020 @ 11:03 pm

Kind of off topic, but maybe not, a firearm is still a good investment. Has anyone had any experience with the Charles Daly .45 ACP 1911 clone? PSA has a good price on this, $499. Also I noticed the PSA has several pistols in stock.

#20 Comment By TXCOMT On October 13, 2020 @ 1:22 am

Good stuff…they were made in the Philippines and perfect entry-level pistols. That’s a good price and if I didn’t own several dozen already, I’d get more! Buy with confidence.

TXCOMT

#21 Comment By Nathan Hail (not to be confused with generic Nathan) On October 13, 2020 @ 3:03 am

When you need a weapon, it is probably too late to get one. Ammo too. You heard it here first.

#22 Comment By TominAlaska On October 13, 2020 @ 3:00 pm

The Cinema:

I cannot understand why so many conservative aquaintances still support Hollwood. No way I would buy a ticket that funds a bunch of liberals and their American hating lifestyle.

Plus, sitting in a room with sticky floors and cough filled dead air …… well, there are better things to do.

Just an opinion.